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Friday, September 24, 2010

About a week ago, Heather from DSC asked me if I would like to do a feature.

Of course i said, OF COURSE!

and then i did what everyone else in this position would do...

I asked myself, "what am I going to do?"

It wasn't about coming up with a new projects,

it was about picking which one of my planned projects was I going to do.

Well, I finished the project a while ago, and it took longer than intended.
Ive recently started a full time job after 3 years of being a stay at home mom.
I worked on this an hour a night for a few nights..
when i finally had the project done it was time to write the tutorial
but I've been having problems writing it up.

I first tried writing it up on Word 2007, but it was just a trial, and

of course my trial expired.

so then i tried typing it up on notepad.

I had it all nicely typed up and after saving it i went to bed.

the next morning i went to open and send it to Heather, and

of course my computer cant open it.

It tells me the file is to large to open...UGH!!!!

So I'm hoping that maybe by posting the tutorial here, Heather can still use it...﻿

(sadly, because of the unability to use word programs we were unable to use the feature...but thats ok!!)

Now to the Tutorial.....

Ive been seeing alot of Pottery Barn inspired projects lately.

I thought I would see what the big hype was about and I requested the catalogues.

I have to admit, they have some pretty cool items in there, but nothing in there is very cheap!

I liked the spinning shelf, and the bed/dresser combo, but i could never afford them.

I can see why so many people were making their own inspired projects.

The second I saw this, I knew what project I was going to do!!

a cool 'Flying' Crow Mobile!

It has a $39 price tag though!!

After seeing this I knew I wanted to make my own 'Flying' crows!

The List of required Ingredients are:

5 crows-$5

* located at Dollar tree

Feathers- $2.50

* Found at Walmart

3 cans Black Spray Paint- $3

* 96 cents at Walmart

( 2 glossy, 1 matte)

Fishing Line

* on hand

Picture Hanging Kit-$1

* Located at Dollar Tree

Branches- Free!

To begin, you must first gather your supplies;

beginning with your branches.

Visit your local woods

I am actually lucky enough to have one basically in my back yard!

There are a large variety of trees to choose from

If you can find already 'dead' and bare branches,

that's even better.

But, be careful because they tend to be brittle and break easily.

for my largest branch, and I chose one that still had leaves on it and was a bit stronger.

all of the others were already 'dead'

remove all of the leaves, leaving as much of the twigs and branches as possible

Half of the leaves gone..

completely bare

Next step is to spray paint your branches

using the glossy spray paint

I added a touch of silver spray paint (on hand) as an accent..

after the branches dry, its time to hang them up.

tie a long strand of fishing line to eye hooks

screw the hooks into the ceiling..

I then propped the 'stem' of the branch in the corner

and tied the branch up with the fishing line

The next step was to work with the crows.

you can remove their legs by simply pulling them out.

one crow i place straight onto the branch

i placed a small stub of twig into one of its leg holes..

next i strung up three of the crows that will be 'flying'

I did this by threading long pieces of fishing line onto a large yarn needle

and poking it through the middle of the crows

I then tied the end of the line to a sewing pin and poked it into the crow

so the fishing line wouldn't pull through the Styrofoam of the crow

I then hung the crows from the branch at varying heights

after adding the second crow, i took a step back and reviewed my work.

I liked it but i seemed a bit..empty

so i added another branch below the main one.

i propped it up in the same way as the larger branch, using a keyring to keep them together

Using fishing line i tied it onto the larger branch. hanging just below it.

i used double sided sticky tabs to stick it against the wall

and I placed a Lil crow, cradled in its branches

here is what it looks like so far...

next step is to add wings to your birds

using the feathers

start layering the feathers to create a wing shape

i hot glued them onto a piece of card stock for stability

trim down the card stock and

create enough wings fro all of your 'flying' birds

after you complete all of your wings, prepare an area to paint them

I started out using the glossy spray paint

it doesn't cover very well...

as you can see below

the matte spray paint does a much better coverage job

( sorry about the bad images)

Using hot glue I attached the wings onto the birds

attach them at different angles to give the perspective that their flying

and here is the final project...

looks amazing!!

And all for around $12!!

I also added a few branches in other corners of the room

the other two were hung by using picture hooks and key rings

i used spiderweb and a creepy spider to accessorize this branch,

which hangs over my daughters doorway

the one above my hallway is held up the same way

using picture hooks and key rings

﻿ you can also add Spanish moss and alot of spider webbing to make the look alot creepier.

About Me

I am a 24 year old stay at home mom. I have two kiddos- a 3 year old who thinks shes 13, and a new bouncing baby boy. I have an adoring husband who lets me be my quirky self (though i sometimes drive him batty)! I’m raising and loving my children and living the 'crafty' life. I'm a self proclaimed “DIYer” I just cant help my self to a good bargain, and I enjoy just about any kind of creative outlet!